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The new look sub-package the Green Bay Packers’ secondary unveiled midway through the second half of Sunday’s 38-20 win over Washington will make its return Sunday in Cincinnati.

The Packers won’t work exclusively out of the alignment, but Packers cornerbacks coach Joe Whitt liked what he saw from moving veteran cornerback Tramon Williams into the slot of the nickel and dime sub-packages and bringing in 6-foot-1, 195-pound Davon House to line up across from Sam Shields on the perimeter.

Whitt said he considered the grouping even before hamstring injuries sidelined Casey Hayward and Jarrett Bush, but kept Williams mostly working outside as House dealt with various injuries and ailments of his own.

House saw action on only two defensive plays against San Francisco in Week 1, but impressed when he came into the game briefly in the first half when Shields was dealing with a cramping issue. He ended up with two defensive tackles, a sack and was a special-teams game-ball recipient.

Rookie Micah Hyde played the better part of the first three quarters in the slot position usually occupied by Casey Hayward before giving way to Williams, who estimated that it was the first time since 2009 he played the position in an actual NFL game.

“What happened was Sam Shields had some ccramps, House came in and played well. I wanted to see him more,” Whitt said. “Out of those guys, Tramon is the guy to go inside. Micah had some plays that I didn’t like, so I went ahead and made the switch. I really wanted to see what House was going to do. That was the reason of the switch.”

With the Packers preparing to face the Bengals and their dynamic young receiver, A.J. Green, the presence of House on the perimeter would give the Packers their biggest body outside.

The Packers have struggled to shutdown No. 1 receivers through the first two weeks of the season with San Francisco’s Anquan Boldin and Washington’s Pierre Garcon combining for 21 catches on 30 targets for 351 yards and two touchdowns.

The blame hasn’t fallen on any one specific player, but rather a collection of the whole.

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Green, who has 15 catches for 203 yards and two touchdowns in his first two games, presents a whole new set of challenges as one of the league’s ascending receivers with his ability to continuously accelerate down the field on routes.

“We’re not collectively as a defense getting it done,” Whitt said. “If you’re underneath coverage, you need to be there. If we have a guy doubled, you need to be there. If you’re the main coverage on it, you’re sending it to your help – send it to your help and understand that your help better help you. That’s what we have to do better when we’re dealing with this No. 1s. Collectively, as a defense, get it done. I’m excited to see if we’re going to step up to the challenge this week.”

Hyde and Williams likely will remain the primary options inside with Hayward out until after the bye week, but House is also building his knowledge base for the position.

The Packers have been working to expose the third-year cornerback to more of the nickel concepts and it’s working, according to Whitt. House actually scored a 100 on the nickel portion of his test earlier on Friday.

As defensive coordinator Dom Capers alluded to earlier this week, there was some trepidation about using the 5-foot-11, 197-pound Williams in run support and corner blitzes given his size and injury history, but Williams graded out well by all accounts.

Williams suffered a flare up in his groin on Friday and is listed as probable to play, but the indication is he’ll be a full-go against the Bengals with the secondary looking to tap into his knowledge bank inside at times.

“It’s been awhile since he actually played the nickel. I thought he did well,” Whitt said. “He’ll have some other opportunities. He’s going to be in there some. Not exclusively, but he will be in there some on Sunday. We’ll see how he does.”